Several mercenaries and I were hired to prepare the moot for the tribes, as the Dawn was approaching and time was of the essence.

First of all, we were hired to find a scarf within an ancient tomb as this was required by one of the shaman. We journeyed to the tomb where we found an army of skeletons guarding. Shen, one of the warriors, and I pushed forwards, but we were thwarted as the weak-hearted of my fellow mercenaries seemed to be terrified of a pair of skulls. I picked them up and left, but everyone else ran from me, as I was holding the skulls. I realised that the skulls only affected those whom they looked upon, and so placed them next to a wall, facing the stone. Nobody else was affected and we moved forwards again. We then encountered two skeletons, larger and somewhat ornamented and my sword blows did nothing to the creatures. Using the power from one of the guilds I had joined to make my weapon spiritual in nature, I easily dispatched the skeletons.

We found more problems ahead, however, as there was a pile of skulls which, when touched, caused wounds to the heads of all who heard the ensuing scream. I had a flash of inspiration and realised that we had to make an offering to it in the plate nearby. One of the other mercenaries and I did this and I stepped across the skulls. An even larger skeleton was ahead, and it had stronger blows, thankfully it was unskilled with its weapon and, once again imbuing my sword with spiritual energy, I slew it. The scarf was wrapped around the creature's head, and I picked it up. We then returned to the Gatherer.

We were given lunch by some friendly ogres, and during the lunch, we accepted various other marks from other tribes, however the Lost Tribe had lost their gift, as it had been stolen by a group of barbarians. I had to leave but the other mercenaries were able to go and find it. First they fought off several barbarians, but came across two more nimble warriors. These were more difficult to defeat, but they were still able. They then found the shaman and various other warriors. The shaman had drawn several runes on the ground. They were reluctant to cross but when the first warrior did, he was nearly paralyzed. Thankfully he was able to shout it off and discharged the other runes onto himself. The other warriors were reluctant but the warlock gathered the chains of fire and blasted the barbarians, killing them and their shaman. The warriors were forced to fight their way through several other groups of barbarians until they came upon the champion of the tribe.

The champion and several other tribe members demanded a one-on-one fight, and one of the mercenaries accepted. He was, however, defeated and killed by the champion. The next mercenary was able to kill the champion but, in anger, the other tribe members killed him. Finally, the warlock was able to defeat the rest of the tribe and reclaim the gift.

The next day, we were sent to complete the three challenges of the totem, these being those of the mask, owl and snake. The scouts went to complete the snake challenge whereas I and the wizards went to complete the mask challenge. I was given the fish totem, and another warrior was given the bear totem. First of all we had to solve a puzzle to open a door. This was not too difficult, and the warlock was able to do it. We moved onward and found two spirits, one of which harmed us and one of which inflicted a disease. We retreated to find a way past them, but the warlock and I were diseased in the process. Past this there was a sword, coated in venom, which struck us. One of the wizards engulfed it in darkness and I held onto another whilst we walked past. Finally, we saw a carving on the wall, and we had to decipher it. The warlock was just able to do this before the disease prevented us from moving. We waited until the others arrived, after having assassinated a man, who could only be defeated from behind, and they had gained the snake totem. The Gatherer cured my disease, as the warlock had done so with his own potion.

Next we had to gain the owl totem. We traveled to a place filled with elementals. After slaying a few, who could cause our equipment to disintegrate, we were able to pass a warding and we collected several pieces of paper which summoned the elementals. We realised that the elementals were "bound" and we tried touching different pieces of paper together. After a while, two of the pieces of paper disappeared, and I ran out to get them. We did what could only have been correct, when nothing happened. I had another flash of inspiration and realised that the challenge was, in fact, impossible. We used the power of the Gatherer to leave, but instead we were all asked why we had left. I answered "Because the challenge was impossible" and we transported away.

To my great shock, we were greeted by the Totem itself. It demanded that we kneel before it, and I was shocked at how quickly my fellow mercenaries obeyed. I knelt to, out of respect for it's great power. He demanded that those who possessed aspects of the Totem sit around him, but two of those with aspects were not there. One of these was the wizard, who we explained had fled. The wizard was struck with a great curse, as the Totem was furious with him. The Totem then left, saying that we were incomplete.

In the afternoon, we journeyed to the shaman of Oll, who told us that the bridges were to be opened to the moot. He told us that he could not control three of the bridges, and that we would need to deal with these, and also that we needed to provide for two of the outstanding keystones. The first needed 5,000 grulls, which I could easily provide, due to my family's wealth. This was burnt, which left only the keystone needing a story. We sat around a fire and created a story for the keystone, which brought it into being, each contributing a sentence using what we knew of the trolls and what we knew of the keystones. Finally, the ritual could begin.

Unfortunately, three of the bridges were unanchored, and we needed to go through in teams of three. At the first bridge, a portal opened and two lizards appeared from it. They said they were priests who worshiped Jakob, and sought refuge from their enemies, who were summoning undead. Seeing them in their need, I allowed them passage. Next came three, larger lizards, these were hunting the others. I told them to leave, and they refused, so I was forced to kill them. They were stronger fighters than I had expected, some spitting poison onto me. Sadly, one escaped, I pursued him but he had fled out of reach.

Next, I went into the portal. When I returned, it was said that several winter elves had appeared and given the mercenaries an egg. This was very strange, as they had also left peacefully. I advised that the egg be given to me, but the warlock refused and kept it. The third bridge was opened and demons spewed forth. They were powerful and attacked us with fire, but we were able to defeat them. Next came one, larger demon. It shot powerful fire magic at us and some of us were badly hurt, the warlock was not, as he had shielded himself from such attacks. Thankfully we were able to slay it.

Finally, the shaman completed his ritual, and changed form into that of the Totem. He attacked us and shouted for us to destroy him. We attacked him, as he wished, and he was killed. This was the final part of his ritual. Around us grass sprouted from the ground, a ring of trees formed and thickened, and the blood soaked and disappeared into the earth. We sensed this was a place of peace and we began to be healed by the ritual nature of where we were. All around us, shamans appeared, walking through the trees themselves and began ritual activities. We had been successful, the moot had been created, and we were able to return home.

On the behalf of Captain Lathaniel Brahm from Fort Bessen and a wanderer named the Gatherer,

The young mercenaries managed to gain the support of the main tribes in the Broken Lands. These included; the Lost, Bloodcrushers, Thrice, Broken Crown, Hollow Bone, Children of Bragyl, Cave Fangs, Og's Fallen and the Blackened Kow.

Under the guidance of the Shaman of the Broken the young mercenaries managed to assist them in performing a rite to create a moot within the Broken Lands for the tribes to be able to meet without fear of reprisals from one another. Harnessing the Trolls living in the Broken Lands and their bridges to create a network of gateways to travel safely to and from the moot and to anchor these portals so they cannot easily be subverted.

Although the creation of the moot is known about, locating it by anyone that the tribes or Shaman do not want there is altogether another matter. This place is private and man should stay away. It is under the protection of the place spirit simply known as Totem.

The mercenaries that gathered and are noted as heroes or villians amongst of the shamen, orcs, goblins, trolls and ogres include: Shen, Ptolermy D'Treal, Darcy, Kerius Rend, Gerard the Coward, Gaia and the goblin Bek.

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It's not Hardcore... it's Willcore!Stats make me hardRoll the dice to see if I'm getting drunk!Will Power... lowering the tone

QUOTE("Brave Sir Robin")

thanks to will for being both the foundation and leader for all we do.